Cuisinart CWC-900 Private Reserve 11-Bottle Stainless-Steel Countertop Wine Cellar

• 11-bottle countertop wine cellar in an attractive stainless-steel design
• Thermoelectric compressor-less cooling technology for quiet operation
• Controls with 8 presets ensures ideal storing and serving temperatures
• LED display; 3 removable chrome racks; interior lighting
• Measures 20-1/8 by 18-8/9 by 18 inches; 3-year limited warranty

I found this wine cellar at a local department store and bought it to take the place of storing/chilling wine in the refrigerator. A standard fridge might be ok for whites, which should be served colder, but not so for reds. When reds are too cold, the subtle flavors become "squashed" for lack of a better term. However, my standard fridge accomodates a standing opened bottle of wine awkwardly at best. Also the frequent knocks and vibrations of the standard fridge, as well as light exposure as said to be bad for wine preservation by those in the know. I'm mainly interested in the convenience of having wine-on-demand at the appropriate serving temperature, as I tend to drink mostly budget wines ($10 and under).

This unit is a single cooling chamber (as opposed to some dual-chamber models I've seen, which allow independent temperatures in the two chambers). It has presets corresponding to certain temperatures, which are inconveniently not listed in the manual. However these can be determined easily enough by dialing in a preset program and checking the temperature the following day. (I haven't bothered to do this) The manual does offer you which presets are best for the various varietals of wine (1 through 8, with 8 being the coldest). You can also set the temperature manually if you do not wish to follow the preset programs. There is a digital temperature readout visible through the door when it's closed clever design, but very difficult to see if the unit is on the floor (where I have mine). True to claim, there is essentially no vibration when the cooling compressor/fan are engaged. The front door has a large window (see picture above) which is dark-tinted to keep the evil humours out whilst you gaze upon your vino. There is an interior light which comes on when you open the door, and can be switched to continuous ON position if desired. As to the previous reviewers comment about the compressor running a lot, it does run more in the first 24hrs than afterwards, but not excessively so. Mine slips neatly right under my home-office desk (close at hand for those bad days!). Actually, this is the coolest room in the house and so the unit runs less in that ambient temp, and hence consumes less electricity. You should be aware that it has exhaust vents to the right of the door handle that need several inches of clearance, so plan accordingly for your physical layout.

I give this model 4-1/2 stars for price & convenience. I have to withhold a 1/2-star simply because the digital readout window is hard to see from a high angle. If I get into white wines at some point, I like this unit well enough to consider purchasing a second one and at this price, it's at least equal in total price (for two units) as some of the dual-chamber models I've seen, if not a little cheaper.

UPDATE 2/17/07

Well, as some others have reported, the unit developed a problem after about 11 months of service wherein it was running continuously without cooling at all. I called the Cuisinart company, and to my surprise they acknowledged an engineering defect and offered to exchange the unit at no charge for a new one with the defect corrected. There were some logistical trials and tribulations involved in the return, but finally the new replacement unit arrived yesterday and now I'm "chillin' like a villain" once again.

The dimensions of the unit by my own measurement are W 17-1/8" (43.5cm) H 16-3/8" (41.5cm) D 16-7/8" (43.8cm), and the door handle adds about 1-1/2" depth.

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I think the problems that other reviewers had might be similar to what I experienced, though they didn't indicate that they kept the unit around long enough for me to be sure. I'm returning this unit to the dept. store where I bought it, but I'd like to warn other potential buyers to be watchful.

I knew that it would take a while (up to a week, possibly) for the unit to get to its holding temperature (I had it at 57 or 58, I don't remember, exactly). Once it did, it barely ran at all. I mean AT ALL; the fan might have clicked on once every couple of days, after that.

After a short period of time, though, the unit was literally running around the clock. Also, the temperature LED showed 74 degrees, though a thermometer I placed in the unit read 45 degrees.

I unplugged the unit, and with its door closed, I left it that way for a day. I re-read the internal temperature, which had increased to 50 degrees while it was unplugged --obviously well below my desired setting of 58, so I plugged it back in. The LED showed 50 degrees for about 30 seconds, and then the fan kicked in at the same time the displayed popped back up to 74.

I let the unit run for a few hours (the fan running the entire time), and re-read the temperature. It was 47 degrees, though the display still showed 70-something.

It obviously keeps things cool, but the fan will run _constantly_ if something goes wrong with the unit, probably the thermostat, but I'm not sure.

Like I said, the unit goes back today.

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I've owned my Cuisinart CWC-900 for about a week and it is driving me nuts. The fan runs constantly (about 22 hours a day) and is just loud enough to be annoying (sounds like a hair dryer on its lowest setting). For an otherwise well designed and aesthetically pleasing appliance, this is a deal breaker.

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I have owned this wine cellar for about a week. Don't believe the "no noise" claim the fan runs almost constantly and is nearly as loud as a full-size refrigerator. Also, even at the coldest setting, the wine temperature is often not cold enough. Bottles on the bottom shelf are coldest, most likely by design, and top-shelf wines are only cool, certainly not as cold as the temperature reading indicates.

Overall this wine cellar is a disappointment. It looks nice on the counter, but with the constant running of the fan, it might end up somewhere out of the way just so we don't have to listen to it. Kind of defeats the purpose of buying a Cuisinart with a stylish design.

I ordered this unit in early December and it arrived in mid-March. The offer included a mail-in special offer for an additional Cuisinart product, but the offer expired before the product arrived. I contacted customer service and was told the offer would not be honored.

I do not recommend this product and am considering returning it, though the high return shipping costs will likely keep me from doing so.

We received our unit last night and we were so excited it looks beautiful, so compact and beautifully designed. Unfortunately, I can't BELIEVE how loud it is...it sounds

like a room fan on its highest setting, and that is in my air conditioned house.

It's going to be a pain to return since it is so big.